Tricor is...... A Cold Cucumber

The best time for a long-term investor, apart from selling stocks at a high profit, is when the companies you are investing in are giving you dividends.  I really look forward to receiving these cheques in the specific months throughout the year. I also  check on-line when the payment date of the dividend is due and estimate the time I would receive it in the post.

I have had no problems all these while until one of these cheques did not arrive after about two weeks. This was the first time it happened to me. I knew I had to contact the share registrar to inform about  this but I did not know which one. So I tried one I found on line using the given telephone number.... there started my exasperated exercise. It took almost one and a half hour to finally talk to someone, before that you keep hearing this robotic voice telling you that all the customer agents were busy and try the extension ( how do I know what the extension was because the robot was not interactively human!).

I was disconnected so many times but I knew I had to be patient otherwise I would not get that dividend which I badly needed to top up my MAXIS shares. When at last I  heard a human voice, I told her the name of my stock, only to be told that they were not handling the company's services. I managed to ask the girl who else are the share registrars, then she mentioned Tricor and immediately I remember the name printed on the upper left hand corner of  dividend cheque envelope that I ever received. The girl was nice enough to give me the telephone contact.

This call to Tricor was not too bad as I got through after less than five minutes. The operator transferred me to the relevant section. The woman on the line did not have a warm voice ( I think everyone would know whether the person on the other end is friendly or not after the first few words). I explained to her about the "missing" dividend cheque. She told me to wait another week or so (Ghee!!) and she would send me a form to fill in  then I would have to pay to get the new cheque sent over. Then I informed her that I did not lose the cheque, I just did not receive it!  Why should I have to pay? She said that was just too bad and if I wanted the new cheque I just have to pay. She did not try to explain nicely at all. And that was my money she was talking about!  I would have understood... even if she said " Sorry, that is the  company's policy". Obviously she has not been trained on how to deal with clients. Her soft skills left much to be desired.

Honestly, If I were to choose my share registrar I would not choose this company!

I emailed my particulars and would you believe it? The reply was computer generated... "Dear valued investors.. blah..blah.". this was despite me using her personal company email address AND after we had talked on the phone. I was allergic to this kind of treatment and she called herself "The Manager"??.. I wonder how do her subordinates behave with a boss like that!

I was so relieved when POS Malaysia was able to trace the cheque! And the people there were so nice to talk to, congratulation POS Malaysia! .Your customer service is excellent.

The woman and the company would not exist without the investors... just like doctors , we would not be here if not for our patients so we treat them with respect.

Now, my next dividend cheque is from SIME, payment date is on 4 Dec 2009  and  Oh Blada! The same share registrar is handling it. Hope the cheque arrives safely.....

Are you for real, Cucumber?

                                                                                                                                                      AP photo

City of Brisbane.... Down Memory Lane

Brisbane Expressway

Got a new car and drove with my friend , now a Urologist at Ampang Putri Hospital KL, at 100 mph on this freeway, actually the speed limit was 100 kph ! No wonder the other drivers were left behind  and lucky we did not get a ticket!

City by  the Brisbane River

Brisbane city at night

I learnt to drive in Brisbane. The first time I was at the steering wheel, I hit the accelarator instead of the clutch (manual engine!) and nearly went into the Brisbane river!

My driving instructor was very good. He taught me how to do angle parking up a hill, In Brisbane there are many hilly roads. I remember his advice to always look in the rear view and side mirror, avoid tunnel vision, do not tailgate and drive fast when you are at the head of the traffic at the traffic light when the light turned green because he reasoned that everyone would want to catch that green light, so if you linger, less people can go through. To this day, when I am in that position, I follow his advice and  usually notice that I leave the others way behind.... eat my dust sort of  thing! Kind of hard to change my way...and  I do wonder about the Malaysian driving instructor... heard many first-hand story about them.

By the way, I passed the first time I took the driving test. I remember the tester was an old man, a bit amorous I must say.  After a short verbal test, we went together with me at the wheel and him guiding as to where to go. He jokingly said things like when I got the driving license I must take him for a ride..I had trouble concentrating with him yapping away and nearly went into a no-through road! ( talk about sexual harassment, you find it just about anywhere). But again no wanton  coffee money business here. I passed on account of my driving skill and understanding of local traffic laws. Things could be somewhat different in my country. Rather unfortunate but is being addressed now. Currently Malaysian driving license, unlike Singapore, is not recognised in the UK much to the chagrin of those who truly passed the test!

My only encounter with the traffic police officer was when I crossed the double line on my way back from  the Royal Brisbane Hospital, (RBH) on a Sunday! I then had only a few days before the end of my driving provisional period. I often noticed people crossing that double line and never got booked. So I thought no harm  if I were to do  the same after all  it was Sunday and there was hardly any traffics

Anyway this big burly policeman on an equally big motorbike flashed his light and stopped me. He came to the car door ready with a book and a ball pen, looking vicious. " What did you just do lady?" He barked... my heart ran faster than my thoughts. As he was about to write down on his book (there goes my driving license!), I unashamedly broke down and told him if he gave me the ticket, I would not be able to drive to the medical school and the hospital as I lived a distant away.. please. Ghee.. he actually stopped writing and closed his notebook and told me never to break the law again, and turned to his bike and rode off!! That was a close call. Till now when I see a double line, I recall that " Reasonable Brisbane traffic police officer".... no coffee money business like I used to hear in my own country.

The William Jolly Bridge

Jacaranda  blooming..... is Study time

Jacaranda starts to bloom about six week before our final exams. While the atmosphere went purple, we students knew the time to swot had come. It was and still is an annual natural calender in Queensland, the Sunshine State.

These photos are part of my journey down the memory lane. This is the city where I spent nearly  a decade  of my student's life. My university at St Lucia and later the Medical School at Herston and the Royal Brisbane Hospital where I once worked. And my friends... Allison, Elizabeth, Warren, John, Shaun, Janet, Richard, Lynnelle,David, Daryll who is now a prominent  Queensland Cardiologist and others.. those in my group work are best remembered as we studied and played together...they helped shaped some of my outlook on life. I was rather timid and took life seriously when I first set foot in Australia, was bullied silly by my  Aussie friends as I was the only foreign girl in that class.... And I almost forgot, this was where I met my husband, a chemistry of the opposites! No, no love at first sight.

I am feeling nostalgic because I happened to stumble upon a blog by a local TV personality whose daughter has been admitted to University of Queensland, my Alma Mater. For a close-up of the recent photos of the university , people can visit his blog at  http://aznilnawawi.blogspot.com/.

Kookaburra.... sits on the old gum tree, Merry merry king of the bush is he;

Laugh, kookaburra laugh, kookaburra gay as life can be... ( a sing-along)

   

Brisbane Botanic Garden

Brisbane Botanic Garden

Steps going down to the Brisbane river.

Stood on this very spot ... memories flooding in.. and that song by my favorite Diva, Barbra Streisand... "The way we were".

From a Grateful Patient

Appreciation with flowers



I had a pleasant surprise this morning when a basket of orchids was sent to my clinic. The message is simple "Budi Baik Dr tetap dikenangi" or " Your Good Care will always be Remembered". This gesture really makes my day.

I hardly know the lady but I give my best to all the patients who value their health. By the way, though I sensed that she was different from other patients, I did not know that her husband owns several companies. I treat all my patients, wealthy or poor, equally.

This is the satisfaction working with patients who appreciate you. Thinking about it, don't we all need to be recognised some time?

Was the Mother for Real?

This afternoon a male child of 13 came in and noisily barging in behind him was a woman and two other children, both less than seven or eight years old. The woman's handphone was ringing away and the two children came to park themselves, unceremoniously, right in front of my desk and I could smell their acrid sweat and sensed their excitement. Even a "bomoh" (traditional medicine man) would be intimidated by this formidable trio, I thought.

I asked whether the patient, the 13-year old boy could speak and the woman, handphone pressed at the ear, said yes but the son ( she was the mother), according to her, wanted her to be around. What? History-taking and physical examination with this motley crowd breathing down my neck! So politely, the mother and the two kids were asked to wait outside and should further information be needed, the nurse would call her. She walked out, her phone still at the ear with the two excitable kids trooping behind fer.

We have had this kind of situation before and the parents accepted it in good faith. Parents usually like to tell their own version of circumstances leading to their child's illness rather than the child's. So my policy is, if the child can relate his story then the parent should stay away and come in only for any additional information or corroboration.

After hearing the boy's story of feeling itchy all over his body for the last one week, not subsiding despite having been treated at a clinic, I proceeded to examine him from head to toe, so to speak, and noted that his skin was unusually dry, in fact some areas were so dry you could see white crusty patches interspersed with scratch marks. No wonder he was feeling itchy. When asked whether he was on any medication or what sort of soap he was using, he did not know. At that point, I asked the nurse to call the mother in. She was heard shouting away that she did not know anything because the boy was studying in a boarding school and that he could talk for himself! She sulkily refused to come in and later complained to the reception that she was roughly treated.

Rough indeed! What kind of mother who would not cooperate in her child's treatment? Her demeanor was also rude and disrespectful, with that handphone of hers and arrogant and foolish, to say the least for probably thinking that her action was justified... I must admit I have yet to come across a mother like this ... was she for real?

H1N1.... (extreme) global fear, (frenzied) local action... true GLOCAL!

Yesterday as I came in to work, I saw a big banner on H1N1 screening being publicly displayed.... and today a nurse, complete with a mask was seen sitting behind a desk, next to the foyer.. waiting to screen patients for H1N1... I could not suppress my smile. If you look at the demography of the people who attend this health facility.. you'd think that this is an over-reaction, or is it a clever strategy to show the citizens that the government is doing something?

Another drastic local action, be it far away, was the quarantine of dozens of symptom-free Mexicans in an hotel in China, triggering a diplomatic row... after SARS who would blame the enigmatic Chinese who, by the way, hid from the world the deadly disease which caught people unprepared and many,as a result, died! At least the Mexicans are transparent. Geographically,a lot more of our countrymen travel to China than to North America! We were justified to be frenzied then.

Regardless of whether an epidemic or a pandemic,for personal safety and as a universal precaution,I would don a mask whenever a patient comes in with coughs especially when dear old TB is making a come back due to multi-drug resistance and high prevalence of HIV.

Like Mother Like Daughter

There are these two sets of family consisting of mother and daughter. The first set, the elderly mother is always smiling and making jokes and the daughter also looks happy and contented to accompany the mother for visit to the doctor. The other set, the elderly mother is glum and hardly smiled and she complained of almost all aches you can think of and the daughter is just as glum and irritable. She looks unhappy to accompany her mother to the clinic. Both mothers suffer from high blood pressure.

The happy mother regularly came to the clinic to get her medications properly titrated as a result her blood pressure achieved the desired target. Her daughter was encouraging the mother to get better and one could see their non-verbal behaviours which reveal how close they are. The other set does not do well at all. The daughter was not happy to take her mother to the clinic at close intervals while the drugs were being titrated as a result this elderly mother's blood pressure has yet to achieve the target. The way this daughter sat showed her cold distance and taking her sick mother to see a doctor was a chore to her.

It seems that a daughter models her behavior on her mother! Ladies, you deserve what you get...